Old NavyScrews Up NFL Merch ... Orders Mass Destruction

9/15/2012 12:25 AM PDT

Old Navy -- Screws Up NFL Merch ... Orders MASS DESTRUCTION

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Old Navy was so EMBARRASSED by a batch of botched t-shirts they made ... the company resorted to emergency destruction protocols ... TMZ has learned.

Here's what happened ... Old Navy hired an third party company to design a slew of vintage pro-football themed t-shirts ... honoring classic teams like the Texans, Jets, Chiefs and Browns ... problem is the company they hired screwed up the final product.

Old Navy was left with THOUSANDS of error-filled items ... listing the wrong championship team ... the wrong year ... or even listing the wrong league (above: the Jets were AFL champs, NOT NFL champs in 1968).

TMZ obtained a memo from the corporate office to retail outlets ... telling managers to enact "standard D&D process" ... which means DESTROYING the goods and then disposing of them ASAP.

Old Navy has previously released a statement on the screw-up ... saying, “The NFL clothing sold in our Old Navy stores is created by a third party sports licensing company. It is our intention to always provide the best merchandise to our customers and NFL fans. We apologize for this error and are removing the T-shirts.”